In the Soviet Union, when you are 11 you are over the hill if you want to start a career in tennis.

With this in mind, 11-year-old Olga Chernyak traded in her racket for a fencing foil at the local fencing club in Kiev.

Seven years later, Chernyak has matured into one of the strongest fencers for the Lady Lions, compiling a 50-3 record during her freshman season. She has played a key role in helping the defending NCAA Champions to close out their regular season with a 15-0 mark.

Chernyak has distinguished herself with numerous individual accomplishments, including two consecutive Pacific Coast Championships and a first-place finish at the 1989 Maccabiah Games (Jewish Olympics) held in Israel. However, she also thrives in the team atmosphere.

"She's team-oriented, and she likes the environment of team competition," Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said. "She likes the excitement."

Senior fencer Janet Rossman echoed Kaidanov's sentiments.

"She's a good motivator," she said. "She's a good team player, and she works well with us."

Both Kaidanov and Rossman cited Chernyak's confidence as her dominant strength.

Chernyak and her family left their home in the Soviet Union three years ago and settled in San Francisco. Unlike some Soviet fencers, she did not come from a family of fencers.

"Nobody in my family has ever fenced," she said. "My parents have never seen me fence, actually."

Chernyak explained her mother used to play a big hand in helping her with sports such as ice skating, gymnastics and dancing. When she got into fencing, on the other hand, her interest and ability grew so rapidly that her mother knew that she could not be of much help.

Chernyak developed much of her ability in the rigorous fencing environment of the Soviet Union.

"Russian fencing is more agressive," she said. "I think there is more desire there to do well."

In her case, Chernyak had extra incentive to do well because she was not paying for her fencing training. She felt she could pay back her coach for his efforts by performing well in tournaments.

"Here, people are like, 'I think I'm going to take fencing because it sounds like fun,' and they pay money for it." she said. "They don't have that many reasons to do well as the Russians do."

As one of the country's prime recruits coming out of high school, Chernyak had the opportunity to fence virtually wherever she wished.

"I knew that Penn State has a very, very good fencing program," she said. "I knew that Kaidanov would be a better coach than anybody else -- just that he's from Russia tells me a lot. Plus Penn State won the NCAAs last year."

Chernyak said she was pleased to have a strict coach like Kaidanov, one who would motivate her and keep her in top form.

"He keeps me going," she said. "Sometimes I need somebody to push me because I get lazy. I think as time goes by, I'm going to improve under his supervision."

In turn, Kaidanov sees great potential in Chernyak.

"She has a lot of room for improvement, and I expect her to be one of the strongest in the country and eventually make the Olympic team," he said. "She has a good chance. She's strong enough and has a good potential to make it."

The prospects for the Olympics do look bright. The top five fencers in the nation make the Olympic team and as a freshman, Chernyak is already ranked seventh. She also placed second in last weekend's Junior Olympics in Little Rock, Ark.

Chernyak is modest when it comes to the business of making the Olympic team. She said she hopes to make the team but declined to speculate about the likelihood.

In the meantime, she is focusing on helping the team defend its championship at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals, which will be held March 2-3. The NCAAs will be held March 20-24.

"We have a very spirited team. I think we can do it," Chernyak said.